How is real estate divided up in a contested divorce? In the event of a divorce, the two parties have the option to come to an agreement regarding their marital dissolution. If the couple can come to an agreement, then the divorce in Huntsville will be uncontested and it is likely that there will be no need to go to court and litigate the dissolution. In a contested divorce, the two spouses are generally in a dispute as to what happens to the marital property. 
If the spouses cannot come to some form of agreement regarding the marital real property, then it is likely that the issue will need to be settled in court. This means that a judge will need to consider a number of factors to determine how to distribute the real estate between both parties. In Alabama, martial property is equitably divided between each party. However, this is not always the case, very rarely is the court able to divide the assets perfectly in a 50/50 split.
The court has fairly broad discretion to decide how to divide the marital property in the event of a divorce in Shelby County. However, there are some general factors that the court should consider when determining how to split the marital property. One of the considerations that the court takes into account is the amount of money that each spouse has put into the certain marital real estate. For example, if the couple lives in a home that was purchased by one spouse prior to the marriage, and one spouse has put a significant amount of money into the property when the other spouse has not, it is likely that the court may find that the previous owning spouse gets the property. This is not always the case, but the court would award a larger portion of the value of the house to that partner. The court will also consider other factors such as the standard of living that each spouse was accustomed to during the course of the marriage. This factor also gets into the concept of alimony in a Morgan County divorce, which can also be used to determine how to distribute the marital property.
The court also looks at the length of the marriage, the longer that a couple has been together, the more likely they are to both want rights to the marital home. Another major factor that will affect the court’s decision on how to divide the property is whether the couple has children together. If the couple has children together, then the court will then look to who has custody of the children. If the mother has custody of the children in a Jefferson County divorce and the children have grown up in the home, it is likely that the court will want the children to be raised in the marital home, and in that case the court will often favor giving the property to the parent with custody while raising the children.
Attorney Steven A. Harris regularly blogs in the areas of family law, bankruptcy, probate, and real estate closings on this website. Mr. Harris tries to provide informative information to the public in easily digestible formats. Hopefully you enjoyed this article and feel free to supply feedback. We appreciate our readers & love to hear from you!